Playing For Change

This was one of the coolest things that Bryan and I saw at the FCPUG Supermeet at NAB. Supposedly, they are releasing an album of this music at Starbucks this week.

Do yourself a HUGE favor and check this video out and then go to the website at playingforchange.com

More special items…

I don’t ever want to forget how I got the giggles after the first time Alissa and I kissed.

I don’t want to forget seeing my Dad get teary eyed when Michael was born. Or when he walked Laura down the aisle.

I don’t want to forget how it felt to get through my first night acting in “Accidental Death Of An Anarchist” as Chief Bellati in college at Baylor.

Joss & Co. reveal plans for a Dr. Horrible sequel: Maybe a movie? | SCI FI Wire

How exciting! Looks like Joss, NPH and the rest of the guys are giving some serious thought to a large scale sequel to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog. This could be amazing!

Joss & Co. reveal plans for a Dr. Horrible sequel: Maybe a movie? | SCI FI Wire.

Deep Things

I don’t ever want to forget how strong I knew my sisters were when they spoke at Dad’s funeral.

How my Dad used to hold our hands every chance he got.

The way Alissa laughs.

Mikey Logan singing Star Wars and Indiana Jones themes.

Aiden always repeating words at you until you say it back.

Aiden calling my weight machine “Stuck In The Mud” and trying to make it roll like a train.

Friday night – Sci-Fi with Alissa.

How it felt to call a wrap on my first feature film, “What’s The Vig?”

Wearing tuxedoes with Dad and Bryan and Al, and Theresa dressed in gold for the premier of Vig.

David – Romulan Poet

Things I’ll Never Forget

My initial list of things I don’t want to ever forget

Playing catch with my father and the way he would always strike weird poses and throw the ball funny.

Learning to play soccer with my Dad in the backyard of our house in Ohio. He was reading from a book, “How to teach soccer” or something like that.

My Mom singing… anything at all.

The look of the hillside behind our house in Pocatello.

Visiting Pocatello as an adult with my Dad, and the rest of the trip to Idaho Falls, The Snake River and Yellowstone.

David… David Dawson… King of the Fishermen! (My elder family members should remember that.)

Holding baby Theresa for the first time.

Holding baby Laura for the first time.

The time Theresa took on those sixth graders (she was in Kindergarten) and won.

Mom threatening to beat up anyone who made me sad as a child.

Mom chasing my school bus to the GATE program so that she could deliver McDonald’s to me for lunch.

Dressing up in drag for the school Halloween costume contest in 5th grade. And winning the giant jar of candy.

Meeting Alissa for the first time at Daniel’s birthday party.

Alaska. The entire story. (I need to finish those blogs about it before it all fades too far into my past.)

My first EMMY nomination.

My first EMMY “loss.” (Hey, keep it humble man.)

“More Than Words” and my Dad’s waterbed with Amy.

Being baptized with all of my closest friends in 1992 at Ponto Beach.

Holding baby Mikey after he was born.

Holding Aiden the day after he was born.

Holding Kale after he was born.

Watching Laura come around the lake with my Dad in the horse drawn carriage at her wedding.

Watching Theresa and Mom walk down the aisle at her wedding.

Want More Susan Boyle?

So, apparently, 10 years ago Ms. Susan Boyle recorded the old standard “Cry Me A River” for some Charity CD.

Her voice definitely sounds a bit younger here. But it is still impressive.

Someone get this lady a killer part in some stage production – STAT!

I’ve been GOBSMACKED!

The Unforgettable: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Wow.

This movie caught me completely by surprise.

I loved it.

The premise of the film is as old as any… boy loses girl. Boy tries to win girl back (sort of), boy meets new girl, new girl and boy fall in love, boy tries one last go at original girl only to realize it’s new girl he really wants. Boy finally grows up and becomes all that he can be to win new girl.

Ok, maybe that’s a little more complicated than the traditional boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back scenario… but that’s what works with this film.

On many levels the film feels like a story you’ve heard before. But it does a tremendous job of changing up its delivery on you. Read more

My Old Blogs from Blogger

Susan Boyle – Amazing

People ask me sometimes, “Why are you so into these talent shows, like American Idol and America’s Got Talent?”

Well people, my answer is often this, “Because I enjoy seeing people get their shot at the limelight. Especially when it’s someone who probably never had that opportunity before that show.”

Now, almost to prove my point is Susan Boyle. Never in a million years would I have expected this middle-aged, unemployed, frumpy looking little woman to possess so magical a voice. Oh how wonderful is the Universe that it can continue to surprise us all?

Check her out in the video on YouTube (embedding forbidden), you won’t be disappointed.

Surprise Nutritionist No-No’s

Hey, follow the link below and learn some surprising things about foods we are told are good for us!

Surprise Nutritionist No-No’s – Yahoo Fresh Picks on Yahoo Food.

Online video viewing clears three hours per month | Digital Media – CNET News

Someone said to me that online video is the “wave of the future” over the weekend. My response to them was that it’s already my present.

Looks like the future is getting closer and closer for more people.

Online video viewing clears three hours per month | Digital Media – CNET News.

Thoughts on Star Trek

I haven’t said much on the blogs regarding my love of Star Trek. And I do love me some Star Trek! I don’t wander around wearing the costumes, and I’ve never made it to a Trek Convention. But I loved visiting Star Trek the Experience in Vegas, I’ve seen every hour of TOS, TNG, DS9 and Enterprise… and most of Voyager.

I love what Star Trek represents, a positive future for mankind. One where we’ve settled our own differences, while learning to respect each other’s cultural diversity. It’s a hopeful view of what we can become.

TOS was what I remember watching as a very small kid. Shatner’s bravado and swagger, Nimoy’s nuanced, but never bland portrayal of Spock and DeForest Kelly’s irascible Dr. McCoy was always good for a laugh. (Damn it Jim! I’m a Doctor not a brick layer!)

TNG was my first big series. The first drama I actually looked forward to every week. It was event TV for me and my entire family. Dad, Theresa, Laura and I made a weekly habit of watching TNG together. And in the later years, when I was in High School that weekly viewing included our good friend Fletcher McBeth and the post-show discussions between my father, Fletcher and I were some of the best memories I have from High School. (For those of you who know Fletcher you’ll understand just how “geeked out” those discussions must have been!) Read more

TV’s First Interracial Kiss

Shatner and Uhura boldy go where no one has gone before…

In this video clip from “The SHATNER Project.com” the man himself talks about how it’s all much to do about nothing…

Beware the perils of caffeine withdrawal – CNN.com

I have not been drinking as many sodas as I once was. Perhaps this explains my frequent headaches?

Beware the perils of caffeine withdrawal – CNN.com.

ER

Guess it’s just that time of year… series are ending and that seems to be what I want to write about.

This morning, thanks to the glory of HULU.com (yes, we’re aliens and that’s how we roll) I was able to catch the 2 hour series finale of ER.

This show was a phenomenon in the mid – late 90′s. And it was still extremely popular in the early 00′s. But it’s popularity has waned a lot the last few years. My thoughts on that later.

I guess this is really a review of my impressions of ER’s entire run. Not just a review of it’s finale.

ER fascinated me when it first came on the air. It’s portrayal of the activity in the trauma rooms, the O.R.’s and the rest of the hospital were fascinating. And it seemed, early on that the audience was getting the story, or rather the perspective on what it’s like to work in an ER through the interns’ eyes. This made ER very watchable for a young 20′s lad, such as myself. I could relate to the characters that were struggling to cope, manage and survive their start in the ER. Noah Wyle’s, Dr. John Carter, was like a hero to me. He was competent but unsure, strong but not hardened… he was young and everything was new to him. For me, he was the person telling the story. Or at least he was the vessel through which the stories of ER were wrapped around.

That early cast was outstanding. Read more

An old “review” revisited

Ok, so I recently uploaded my old “Blogger.com” archive to davidsdawson.com. In it I found this piece I wrote in 2004 on “Eyes Wide Shut,” or more accurately on Stanley Kubrick.

Have a look and let me know in the comments below what you think of “Eyes Wide Shut” or any of Kubrick’s other amazing films!

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“A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.”

–Stanley Kubrick

That quote was uttered by one of my favorite directors. And in it, you can hear and personally begin to visualize every film he ever made. It’s amazing how gifted a director he was, and it’s amazing to see him sum up his own directing style in so tiny a description. He was often criticized for becoming too technical in his work, that his later films lacked a soul. I disagree. His latter films didn’t lack soul, it was there in every frame of the films. The soul of a Kubrick film wasn’t in the characters or events of the piece, but it was rather the piece itself.

It was there in every minute detail he spent hours getting perfect. It was there in the radical attention devoted to color and depth in every single image in the scenes. Kubrick’s latter films didn’t lack soul, if anything they screamed of it. His very essence was imprinted into everything he did in “Eyes Wide Shut“.

That movie, is more like a concert piece, conducted by the composer himself. If you watch the movie and pay attention to the rythm of it, the poetic fluidity of it, you will find Stanley Kubrick.

No one in recent history has managed to so thoroughly imprint themselves into their films the way he did. And whether you like the films or not, you can’t deny the power of an artist to express himself through his art. Which is what Stanley Kubrick ultimately did. He expressed himself, in his art.

AlmsWear – Show that you give a damn!

Get out there and show that you give a damn!

AlmsWear.

Have you hugged your family lately?

One year and seven months ago today we had a funeral for my Dad. Crazy.

Today, my nephew Kale is seven months old. Yeah, do the math.

My father was always fond of pointing out to me how the cycle of life continues. One thing moves on and something new sprouts up in its place.

I guess the same thing happened there with my family. My Dad’s time here was up, and we were given a year to grieve, and then new life sprang into our midst. And he’s beautiful and such a joy. Just like his two older brothers.

I’ve been thinking about my Dad a lot of late. I don’t really know why. It’s not that anything has really sparked his memory in me, or that anyone has been brining him up in conversations unexpectedly. Maybe it’s because I’m working with the soccer club again. Maybe it’s because it’s tax time. I don’t know.

I miss him. Not a day has gone by since August 27, 2007 that I haven’t felt the emptiness of his vacancy in my life. With every event I find myself wishing I could call him up, share my experience, get his advice. Hear his laughter. Feel his concern. Know that he’s there. Loving me. No matter what.

It’s hard, being a survivor. Knowing that you have to trudge on without someone. Knowing that with time the sound of their voice will fade in your memory. The smell of their skin, of their clothes will drift away from you like a breeze. It’s hard to know that even with someone as important to me as my father was… I am starting to feel the memories fade. I have a hard time picturing him in my mind sometimes. I still feel him in my memories. But it’s like the details are getting fuzzy. I’m sure that’s the way it’s supposed to be. But I don’t like it. I don’t like forgetting. I don’t like having a hazy recollection of the man. I love him so much. I miss him terribly.

But I go on. Best I can. Fumbling my way through life. Trying to recall his guidance. Trying to recall his wisdom. Trying, not to be like him, or to “make him proud”… Just trying to be the best man I can be. Which is, of course, all he ever wished for me.

I don’t know if he’s moved on and been reborn yet, or if he’s out there learning the secrets of the universe, or maybe he’s just sitting up there with God. I don’t know. I just hope that wherever he is, whatever he’s doing, I hope that he’s happy. That he’s found some sort of joy in the life after this. I wonder if we’ll ever meet again. I wonder if that’s how it really works.

If you can still feel me Dad, know this… though the details fade, and the memories grow weaker… the emotion, the power of my love for you stays strong. I miss you.

-David